Judge bans 'don't ask' policy worldwide - Josh Gerstein: Judge bans 'don't ask' policy worldwide
October 12, 2010
Judge bans 'don't ask' policy worldwide
A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to halt all enforcement worldwide of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays in the military.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips issued the injunction (text here) Tuesday after finding last month that the policy, passed by Congress in 1993, violates the Constitutional rights of servicemembers. She acted on a lawsuit brought by a gay GOP group, the Log Cabin Republicans.
The Justice Department had urged Phillips, who sits in Riverside, Calif., to limit any relief in the case to the Log Cabin group or to the named plaintiffs, but the judge rebuffed that request. Her order applies to all U.S. military operations across the globe.
The White House had no immediate reaction to the order, which took effect at the time it was issued. If the Justice Department continues its present stance of defending the "don't ask" statute despite President Barack Obama's call for its repeal, an appeal is likely. That is sure to provoke an angry response from gay activists and others pressing for an end to the policy.
"The president will continue to work as hard as he can to change the law that he believes is fundamentally unfair," Gibbs said, while reserving comment on the injunction.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshge...worldwide.html